Siberian Gold - Part Two

Frustrating.


Is the word that I think mainly sums up my experience with this one this week. I think this was for a few different reasons. First off although this is a kit there appear to be three thread colours that are missing, I have no idea if they just weren't in the kit or if they have been lost somewhere down the line. On the up side this is an Anchor branded kit so I should be able to replace them, on the downside although I have 5 thread organisers full of these threads my brand of choice is DMC so I'll have to go out and find an Anchor supplier.

Secondly there are so many colour changes in this one it's unreal this made for so many thread changes at the beginning it was really slow progress. In all honesty I almost gave up and put it back in the box. However as now both Vicki and Kate are working and making good progress on their own cross stitches they inspired me to keep going.


Actually in the end I'm pleased that I've made some decent progress on this. (However this was only due to spending a lot more than 20-30 mins a day only possible becasue I was off work last week). Here is last weeks starting point.
And this is where we are now.
As you can see I've almost completed the background at the top of the Tiger (minus the missing colours) and I've started to extend the Tiger's body.

Now that I'm starting to move away from the stitching immediately surrounding where Mum got to I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable with this piece. I've come to realise that Mum and I have totally different approaches to working on these pictures and I think that added to the frustrating times I was having in the beginning.

It looks as though Mum tended to concentrate more on completing small areas at a time whereas I thread my needle with a colour and work on that colour until the thread runs out, which means that I tend to range over a larger area of the picture (I think it's pretty evident in the progress picture). I think my way is quicker, less colour changes, and more progress. However I can see how Mum might have enjoyed her way more as you can see the whole picture emerging piece by piece rather than having scattered areas of stitching here there and everywhere. I have found this realisation quite fascinating.

Frustrating to Fascinating all in one week. My enthusiasm for this project is finally emerging and now I'm looking forward to seeing what progress the next week brings.

And for any Tiger lovers out there you might want to check out these lovely pictures that DH took while we were at Colwyn Bay Zoo the other week.